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 Created by Brian K Vaughan, the Eisner Award-winning brain behind series such as Y: The Last Man and Runaways and drawn by Tony Harris, Ex Machina depicts the life of civil engineer Mitchell Hundred, who gained the ability to communicate with machines. He used his powers to become the world's first and only Super Hero, "The Great Machine". After using his powers to prevent the fall of the second tower in the 9/11 attacks, Mitchell has since retired from the role and is currently the mayor of New York City. The series contains the events of his term in office, with frequent flashbacks to his superhero days. The series wrapped up with the planned 50 issues in 2010.
This comic book provides examples of:- Another Dimension: Source of Mitchell's powers
- Alternate History: The second tower didn't go down.
- Asexuality: One interpretation about why Hundred doesn't pursue anyone of either gender.
- Author Avatar: Both Vaughan and Harris appear as themselves in "Ruthless." Doubles as Leaning on the Fourth Wall / Breaking the Fourth Wall.
- Bat Signal: Poked at when Angotti puts a gear symbol on a searchlight, but Mitchell doesn't see it.
- Because Destiny Says So: A fortune teller tells Mitchell he will become the Great Machine again. He also receives a vision from God telling him he will be President of the United States.
- Big Applesauce: This troper thinks it's justified since the invasion wouldn't have the same impact if it happened in, say, Reno, Nevada.
- Also, how else is he supposed to have detoured the second airplane of the Sept 11 attacks?*
- Qualifies as Fridge Brilliance when you realize it may have been one of the reasons why the invaders chose Mitchell as their herald; it would be pretty smart to have him start in one of the biggest cities in the world.
- Blessed with Suck: Mitchell's power manifests itself as being able to command machines, and also to "listen" to them. He can't turn it off. To top it all off, he lives in New York City. Think about it.
- Also, sometimes, the machines lie. Which is kind of important when a gun tells you it's not loaded and it is...
- He was also given these powers as a means to pave the way for an otherworldly invasion. And it's implied there are parallel universes when he joined their cause.
- Brought Down to Normal: The blackout.
- Chekhov's Gun: The Failsafe, the White Box
- Chekhov's Gunman: Suzanne Padilla
- Chest Insignia: And also possible leitmotif, a gear.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: The "Green" controls machines, the "Red" plants, the "Violet" animals, and the "White" people.
- Comes Great Responsibility: Subverted. Mitchell tries to help people by not using his powers.
- The Commissioner Gordon: Mitchell tries to establish a police alliance. It doesn't work out so well. It's not the first time this former comic-book geek wasn't more Genre Savvy.
- Compelling Voice: Mitchell's, Pherson's and Suzanne's powers.
- Convenient Misfire: Just as Mitchell is telling his mother that the gun he confiscated from the local hick sheriff wasn't loaded, it goes off. It drives her point home.
- Cosmic Horror Story: The final issue strongly suggests that Hundred has only delayed the invasion.
- Different World, Different Movies: The main character considers hiring actual creators Vaughan and Harris to make graphic novel based on his life, but decided to go with Garth Ennis and Jim Lee instead.
- Downer Ending: Bordering on Shoot the Shaggy Dog.
- Dreaming of Things to Come / Psychic Dreams for Everyone: Mitchell dreams. Few of them are pleasant.
- Empty Shell: Mitchell at the end. He's Lonely at the Top as Vice President, has driven off or otherwise lost everyone who was close to him, committed murder, and the invaders have made it clear they intend to try again.
- Evil Me Scares Me: Also made worse by the multiple "me"s in this case.
- Face Heel Turn
- Failure Knight
- How Mitchell feels about only diverting one of the 767 on Sept 11.
- How Mitchell feels about not being able to save his handler and wife from the effects of the superpower shard.
- How Mitchell feels about a lot of things, including his career as a superhero.
- Flashback: Mitchell tells the story of his time as mayor as a flashback, so his flackbacks to his time as the Great Machine are flashbacks within flashbacks.
- Government Procedural
- The Handler: An NSA cryptologist is assigned to be Mitchell's handler as his powers are regarded as a national secret. It doesn't work out well. Who knew keeping an alien artifact and source of Mitchell's powers would cause insanity? To be fair, his handler was also adversely affected about the Sept 11 attacks and blames Mitch for not stopping the Pentagon attack.
- Have You Told Anyone Else?
- Heterosexual Life Partners: Mitchell and Bradbury
- Ho Yay: Mitchell and Bradbury.
- If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him: Kremlin strongly disagrees.
- I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: In the last issue, Kremlin melodramatically points a loaded pistol at his own head while ranting to Hundred about the evidence Suzanne had collected about his actions:
Hundred: That file. Did...did you share it with anyone else? Kremlin: Of course not. I was just —
- I Just Want to Be Normal
- Kryptonite Ring: Mitchell invented two, and gives one apiece to Kremlin and Bradbury. They're both duds.
- Lampshade Hanging: "Ruthless"
- Last of His Kind: Implied, but not confirmed.
- Law of Conservation of Normality: Subverted.
- Married to the Job: Interpreted in-universe as a Transparent Closet for Hundred
- The Obi Wrong: Kremlin
- Old Master: Kremlin
- Only Six Faces: Harris is a talented artist, but he only has so many models. For example, a random junkie in "Fact or Fiction" happens to look exactly like a younger, brown-haired Kremlin.
- He uses personally staged photos of real-life models to set up panels. And by real-life models, I mean friends and acquaintances.
- Power Trio: Kremlin, Bradbury and Mitchell
- Psychic Nosebleed: While redirecting the second plane.
- Reality Ensues: While she's walking from her gym, The Great Machine grabs the commissioner of Police and takes her to a rooftop to talk. She reaches inside the bag and he says he could make her gun jam. Then she pulls out a baton. He has enough time for an Oh Crap before she hits him in the head.
- Reed Richards Is Useless: Subverted.
- Secret Identity: Mitchell went public when he ran for mayor. However, most of his abilities are still secret, as a matter of national security.
- Shown Their Work: Comes with the territory for BKV.
- Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: Constantly played with throughout the series, before hitting hard on the cynical side of things in the ending.
- Speaks Fluent Animal: Jack Pherson
- Springtime for Hitler The Lincoln Painting in the first arc.
- Stalker with a Crush / Villainous Crush: Trouble.
- Straight Gay / Bodyguard Crush: Bradbury
- Strawman Political: Averted at every step.
- Technical Pacifist: Mitchell
- Technology Levels: Played with. Mitchell takes an arrow from a would-be assassin, after trying unsuccessfully to "jam" it. His powers apparently have limits.
- Technopath Mitchell
- Toasted Buns: At least Mitchell has friends with fire extinguishers
- True Art Is Offensive: In-Universe, the first arc has a painting of Abraham Lincoln with "nigger" sprayed across it.
- Turned Against Their Masters: It's shown that machines have no qualms about lying to Mitchell, especially about the presence of any hypothetical bullets in any hypothetical chambers.
- Ultimate Evil: The Makers
- Unwinnable Training Simulation
- The War on Terror: Alluded to.
- Mitchell detours the second airplane during the Sept 11 attacks, while he was (pathetically) still campaigning on election day. It is instrumental in his unprecedented landslide victory as mayor of NYC. And later, his ascension to Vice President
- Weekend Inventor: Mitchell.
- Wham Episode: Pretty much all of the last issue.
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